AFGE, AFSCME Filed Lawsuit Challenging Administration’s Reduction-in-Force Plans 

San Francisco, CA – A federal judge today ordered the Trump administration to immediately halt the mass firing of federal employees initiated since the government has been shut down, siding with two labor unions that challenged the illegal action. 

Judge Susan Illston from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said the unions are likely to prove that the administration’s issuance of reduction-in-force notices to more than 4,000 federal employees during the shutdown is illegal, exceeds its authority, and is arbitrary and capricious. The judge ordered the administration to issue no further RIF notices and to take no action to enforce the RIF notices it has already issued in offices at the defendant agencies where the unions represent employees. The judge also ordered the administration to provide detailed information within two days on the RIF notices it has issued.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGFE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) filed a lawsuit Sept. 30 asserting that the Office of Management and Budget, through its Director Russ Vought, violated the law by threatening to engage in the mass firing of federal workers during a shutdown. The lawsuit also names as defendants the Office of Personnel Management and its Director Scott Kupor, which issued unlawful and unprecedented instructions that federal employees may perform work during the federal government shutdown in order to carry out mass RIFs, in addition to the federal agencies implementing these unlawful directives. On Oct. 4, the unions filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to block the threatened terminations and followed that with a supplemental motion for immediate relief once the layoffs started on Oct. 10. 

AFGE and AFSCME are represented by Democracy Forward, Altshuler Berzon LLP, and the Democracy Defenders Fund.  

“The administration’s move to fire thousands of federal employees who are already going without pay during the government shutdown is not only cruel but unlawful,” said AFGE National President Everett Kelley. “These are dedicated public servants who keep our nation running – protecting public health, supporting education, ensuring fair housing, and driving economic growth. We are pleased with the court’s ruling halting these unlawful terminations and preventing the administration from further targeting hardworking civil servants during the shutdown.” 

“This decision affirms that these threatened mass firings are likely illegal and blocks layoff notices from going out,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “Federal workers have already faced enough uncertainty from the administration’s relentless attacks on the important jobs they do to keep us safe and healthy. They deserve respect for the work they do – not to be treated as political pawns by the billionaires running this administration who see workers as expendable. AFSCME members will continue to stand up to this administration’s blatant abuse of power and mistreatment of public service workers.” 

“The president seems to think his government shutdown is distracting people from the harmful and lawlessness actions of his administration, but the American people are holding him accountable, including in the courts. The statements today by the court make clear that the President’s targeting of federal workers – a move straight out of Project 2025’s playbook – is unlawful,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Our civil servants do the work of the people, and playing games with their livelihoods is cruel and unlawful and a threat to everyone in our nation. We will continue to go to court on behalf of our brave clients to stop the President’s attempt to use a shut down of his own creation to harm the American people.”

“Today’s decision is a major win for the thousands of federal workers this administration has tried to punish, and the millions of Americans who depend on a functioning government,” said Norm Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “President Trump needs to stop playing games with people’s livelihoods. End the shutdown, stop using public servants as political hostages, and start governing. Federal workers are not pawns in his vendetta. They’re patriots, and they deserve a government that treats them with respect.” 

“There is nothing remotely lawful about this administration’s choice to force federal employees to work during a government shutdown to terminate their fellow public servants, all to serve political aims and justified by the false premise that the shutdown eliminates statutory authorization,” said Danielle Leonard of Altshuler Berzon LLP. “Today’s order is the first step in the unions’ fight for justice for the employees that the president and OMB unfortunately insist on using as pawns.” 

The lawsuit asserts that firing federal employees during a shutdown is an unlawful abuse of power designed to punish workers and pressure Congress. For decades, shutdowns have meant that employees are either furloughed without pay but guaranteed back pay, or they are deemed “excepted” and required to keep working until funding is restored to pay them. The actions of this administration break from this long-standing framework, directing agencies to issue mass RIF notices that could strip employees of back pay rights, violate agencies’ statutory duties, and even target workers whose jobs are essential to protecting life and property during a shutdown. In doing so, the administration is misusing the shutdown process for partisan ends and violating the very laws that govern how shutdowns are supposed to function. 

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org 

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing more than 800,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia. For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center. 

AFSCME’s 1.4 million members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in communities across the nation, serving in hundreds of different occupations — from nurses to corrections officers, child care providers to sanitation workers — AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and freedom and opportunity for all working families. 

Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy. 

Altshuler Berzon LLP is a law firm dedicated to providing the highest quality representation in the service of economic justice and the public interest. Altshuler Berzon specializes in labor and employment, constitutional, environmental, civil rights, class action, campaign and election, and impact litigation at both the trial and appellate levels.